A crackdown against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people in Indonesia is leading to a rise in HIV infections and causing a public health crisis, according to a new report from Human Rights Watch.
The report documents how attacks, raids and an attitude of open hostility towards LGBT groups by Indonesian authorities and Islamist militant groups has derailed public health efforts to prevent and curb HIV.
“LGBT people’s access to condoms, to counseling and to HIV education is disappearing. It’s becoming more and more difficult for HIV education groups to access these communities. The situation is alarming and rates of HIV infections are increasing in Indonesia,” said Andreas Harsono, a researcher at Human Rights Watch and one of the authors of the report.
Beginning in 2016, Indonesian authorities — including politicians and other governmental officials — began publicly attacking LGBT groups, creating a “moral panic” which then spilled into the wider Indonesian society, according to the report, which was published on Sunday.
Crackdowns are especially troublesome in the prevention of HIV, according to Helen Vice, director of the Global Health Academy at the University of Edinburgh, because they “will only push people who need HIV treatment behind or away from front line services, and for anyone with HIV it’s particularly important that they can access services quickly.”
The HIV epidemic has gotten worse in Indonesia recently, with almost 48,000 new infections each year, the report said.
Most HIV infections in Indonesia still occur among heterosexuals. But one-third of new HIV transmissions occur among men who have sex with men, the report states. Rates of HIV infection have increased five-fold for this group since 2007. The crackdown against LGBT groups has particularly affected organizations working with men who have sex with men, according to Harsono.
The discriminatory targeting of organizations offering condoms and HIV education has been particularly problematic for the prevention of HIV.
“It’s necessary to have an inclusive approach to HIV prevention,” said Vice. “Civil society needs a place at the policy table. Diversity is important. Equal rights is about inclusive access to treatment.”
Source: CNN
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